Although, most of the programs don’t require any kind of special permissions, but still, there are times when you need to run a program as a administrator to start. This may also include using some specific functions of a program that may require you to run them as administrator.

These programs most probably need to access your system files that Windows locks to prevent any damage. However, most of these programs are harmless and are just doing their job. But still, be careful about which program you are running and why they need to access such files.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you different methods to run a program as administrator. Each method has its own advantage, just use the one that fits your needs.

Method #1: Run a Program as Administrator from the Context Menu

This is the most basic method to run a program as administrator, this should be more than enough if you don’t access such programs too often.

All you have to do is, right-click on the application icon and from the context menu click on “Run as administrator”. A prompt by UAC will show up asking whether you really want to run the program or not, click on “Yes” and your program will run as administrator.

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This is simple and fast method to run any program as administrator, but it might not be suitable for frequent use.

Method #2: Always Run a Program as Administrator

If you need to access a program frequently that requires you to run as administrator, then you can also make the program always run as administrator.

Right-click on the icon of the specific program, and from the context menu, click on “Properties”.

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In the Properties, click on “Compatibility” tab to show all compatibility options.  Check the checkbox next to the option “Run this program as an Administrator” located under the heading “Privilege Level” and click on “OK”.

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This will always run the specific program as administrator, but you will still have to confirm the UAC prompt. You can also get rid of this UAC prompt by disabling UAC, but it is not recommended due to security issues.

Method #3: Always Run a Program’s Shortcut as Administrator

If you are a bit concerned about always running a program as administrator, then you can also limit the administrator access to just the Program’s shortcut. Only the shortcut of the program will run it as administrator, other ways to open the program will not run it as administrator.

Right-click on the shortcut which you would like to always run as administrator, and from the context menu click on “Properties”.

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Now, click on “Shortcut” tab and in there, click on “Advanced” button.

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In Advanced properties, check the checkbox next to “Run as administrator” and click on “OK”. Click “OK” on “Properties” window as well and your changes will be saved.

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Your program will now always run as administrator only with this specific shortcut (UAC prompt will still show up), you can hide the shortcut if you don’t want anyone else to access it.

If there are any questions or you know another reliable method to run programs as Administrator, let us know in the comments below.

Filed in Computers..